| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Fate | Acquired in 1988 |
| Successor | Nestlé |
| Founded | 1862 |
| Headquarters | York, England |
| Key people | Henry Isaac Rowntree Joseph Rowntree |
Rowntree's was a confectionery business based in York, England. It is now a historic brand owned by Nestlé, used to market a range of fruit gums and pastilles formerly owned by Rowntree's. Following a merger with John Mackintosh & Co., the Company became known as Rowntree Mackintosh, was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Nestlé in 1988.
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Rowntree's was founded in York in 1862 by Henry Isaac Rowntree, who bought a chocolate company from the Tuke family.[1] In 1869, he was joined by his brother, the philanthropist Joseph Rowntree.[1] The original factory was in the centre of the City of York, by the River Ouse at Tanners Moat, but was relocated in 1906 to Haxby Road in the north of the City.[1]
The Company merged with Mackintosh's in 1969, to become Rowntree Mackintosh.[1] Rowntree was responsible for such chocolate favourites as Kit Kat, Smarties, Aero, Fruit Pastilles and Black Magic,[1] while John Mackintosh and Co. produced Rolo, Munchies, Caramac and Quality Street.[1]
The company went public in 1987, and was the subject of a takeover battle between Nestlé and Jacobs Suchard in 1988. Nestlé eventually won control with an offer valuing Rowntree at $4.55billion.[2] The takeover was controversial, as Nestlé was effectively protected from similar takeover attempts under Swiss law.[3] After the Nestlé takeover, the Rowntree chocolate ranges began to use the branding "Nestlé Rowntree", before eventually the Rowntree name was dropped from the packaging altogether, except on Rowntree's Cocoa and the famous "Fruit Pastilles"[4] and "Fruit Gums".[5] The "Mackintosh" branding was dropped from all former Rowntree Mackintosh products, except for Mackintosh's Toffee, which retained the branding.[6]
The Nestlé Rowntree factory in Norwich closed in 1994, and Rolo, Yorkie and Easter-egg production was moved to York.[7] This site is now the Chapelfield Shopping Mall.
In September 2006, it was announced that the manufacture of Smarties was to be moved abroad, causing 646 job-losses at the York factory.[8]
In May 2009, Nestlé launched a new jelly sweet, Randoms, under the Rowntree brand.[9]
The Rowntree brand is also used on a number of ice lollies (made by Richmond Foods) for Nestlé. The brand has a similar marketplace to that of the Trebor Bassett division of Cadbury's, and competes head-to-head with this company in a number of fruit-gum categories.
Former Rowntree-branded products now re-branded as Nestlé include Walnut Whip.
Since Nestlé took over Rowntree Mackintosh's brands, there has been much criticism of the way that the company has changed them. Nestlé acquired the business to secure the five principal brands: Kit Kat, Aero, Polo, Fruit Pastilles, and Quality Street. Since taking over Rowntree-Mackintosh, the following changes have been made: